Something
by Amberleaf le Haunt
Summary: "I don't think you ever understood." "No." "Did you intend for my sister to leave?" "No." "Then I can finally explain something..." A simple moment can turn into something so important. And it's then that you know nothing else matters.


**This is just a oneshot I wrote a little while ago. :3 I hope you all like it. ^.^; I hope it sounds as deep as I intended it to. XD **

**Enjoy! :D  
**

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Something

A small brown tabby tom waited in the shadows, his broad shoulders relaxed as he stared out into the forest. His amber eyes were halfway closed as the young tom watched the night time forest.

Nothing stirred right now. Nothing moved. The only slight disturbance happened every once in a while when a breeze rustled the bushes, but right now… nothing.  
Suddenly, something across the path rustled. The dark brown ears pricked even as the tom's eyes widened.

_There!_ However, a second later, he was yet again disappointed; a mouse dashed out of the bushes and across a patch of moonlight on the forest floor before spotting the eyes and making a run for it in the opposite direction.

Still, he did not move.

Suddenly, the bushes rustled, and a small gray tom cat with even smaller ears went chasing after the mouse, claws extended, and tail bushed and streaming out behind him.

The small brown tabby tom stood up and stepped out of the shadows. "Smallear."

The gray cat stopped, turned, and stood up, pulling himself up to his fullest height, bristling slightly. "Bramblepaw."

"No need to act so afraid," Bramblepaw said stoutly.

"Sorry." There was a pause. Then, "_Tigerpaw_," Smallear grumbled.

Bramblepaw was barely able to stop himself from leaping forward furiously. "I'm sorry, but what did you say?"

"Nothing," Smallear muttered mutinously, narrowing his eyes and flattening his ears.

Bramblepaw dropped into a crouch, slowly pulling himself forward. "I think you'd better sit," he said in a voice that was more dangerous than he intended. He even surprised himself, and he himself sat down, curling his tail tightly around his paws as he waited for Smallear to comply.

"All right, what did you want to see me about for?" Smallear asked him, eyes glaring, crouching but looking as if he was going to spring up on his haunches and flee with Bramblepaw's slightest movement. His eyes seemed to track the apprentice's every twitch, every shake, every shudder in the warm night air.

"It's about Tawnypaw." The words seemed to hang in the air.

"Oh." The silence following this one word made Bramblepaw's ears ring.

He shook his head to clear it, then meowed, "I don't think you ever understood."

"No," Smallear admitted.

"Did you intend for my sister to leave?"

"No," Smallear informed him shortly.

"Then I can finally explain something..." Bramblepaw took a deep breath, and began. Smallear pricked his ears and shuffled forward slightly, pulling himself into a more comfortable position as he prepared to listen to Bramblepaw, who was preparing to tell. Bramblepaw tracked him with his eyes, then began. Smallear's small ears, true to his name, pricked as Bramblepaw let out his true feelings for the first time.

"Ever since I was born," Bramblepaw began, "I've had to deal with cats staring at me like I'm the worst thing since my father. Like I'm going to follow in his footsteps. Naturally, I look like him, and since I look like him and Tawnypaw is my sister, she also bears the brunt of most of this. Not a lot of young cats have to deal with this; really, only the ones with fathers like mine have problems. They have to work two times harder than everybody else just to feel like they're accepted in a Clan, like they belong. Of course, it doesn't make it any easier when cats like you choose to taunt them, because it will just drive them right after Tigerstar or whoever their father may be if you make them feel like they're not wanted in a Clan of honest cats." He looked sharply at Smallear, really glaring at the elderly tom for the first time.

Smallear flattened his ears and hissed.

Choosing to ignore that, Bramblepaw went on. "I can't understand why a tom so noble and revered by ThunderClan would ever do that. Don't you know that Tawnypaw wanted to be loyal? That's all she ever wanted to be… loyal to ThunderClan. After you and the battle, she decided to be loyal to ShadowClan. And I have to respect her decision, even if I don't understand it. And it's because of you that she's never coming back. Do you… do you know just how _hard_ it is when cats automatically assume that you'll never be loyal because of who your parents were?" His voice cracked. "How hard it is when even your own _leader_ can't trust you, because he was the one who was hurt the worst by your father's treachery? I'm not asking for anyone to be my best friend… but a little trust might be nice." Smallear's eyes gradually softened. Bramblepaw drew himself up to his fullest height and announced, "I'm not the same cat that my father was! I'm _not_. I mean, sure, I knew him, but I didn't really _know_ him, not in the way that a father is supposed to know his child, or that a child is supposed to know his father." Bramblepaw stared for a long time at Smallear, who, to his credit, didn't flinch or blink or look away, before he spoke again. "And while I might have liked to know my father more, or better than I did, it was never to be. He was an _evil_ cat, Smallear. And, the thing is..." He paused, trying to come up with the right words to say, how to make it sound the most sincere and emotional that it could possibly be. "I want no part of that!"

Smallear glanced at him. "I suppose I can understand that," he said curtly.

"Oh, I wish you could," Bramblepaw said quietly. "But I don't think you really do. You've probably still got it in your head that I'll become disloyal someday, but I _won't_. I _can't_. I promised myself that I would never leave ThunderClan! That I would never be disloyal. I promised myself that I would somehow get free of my father's legacy. And..." He suddenly softened his voice. "I have no idea how I will do that, but… I know that it certainly won't help if I don't have support from anyone, including you. You're an elder, Smallear! You have more wisdom in your words than any other cat in the Clan. Hey, you have even more wisdom and merit than _Firestar_! Firestar himself does not have more wisdom than you! Other cats are going to listen to you, and I need, I need, I _need_ your help. Surely you can understand that?"

If Bramblepaw had worked his speech right, he should sway Smallear eventually. He could already tell when a cat was being partially turned over to his side, because they gave off small signs. Their face getting sadder, their tail either twitching or drooping (it mainly just depended on the cat, but Smallear was a drooping kind of elder), and, if they were previously offended by something you had said, their fur gradually unfluffing. It was a skill that he had, unfortunately, picked up from his father.

"Well… I suppose I can understand you," Smallear admitted, nodding.

"Good." Bramblepaw let out a purr. "Then… you'll stop?"

Smallear looked deep into his eyes, and probably liked what he saw there, for he nodded, although it was really almost imperceptibly. "Yes."

"Thank you," Bramblepaw whispered.

Elder and apprentice made their way back to camp, misunderstandings resolved.


End file.
